19th Anniversary Ale isn’t just a wood-aged ale. It’s a compass – a reminder of where we’ve been and where we’re going. Brewed with pure birch syrup and aged on birch wood, this beer embraces reverential tradition and revolutionary innovation.

Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Pour a clear honey color with a short tight white head that settles into a sparse cap but left a sheet of lacing on the glass.

The aroma is sweet. Candied honey comes to mind. There is a slight apricot fruitiness. The birch wood comes through towards the finish.

The taste is quite sweet as well and I have to assume it is from the birch syrup. The birch provides some vanilla and mimics bourbon to an extent. There is a woody flavor but is not as dry as oak. There is honey sweetness as well. It's sweet but not cloying. Perhaps a hint of pepper and grassy hop.

The feel is feel is moderate with prickly carbonation. I borders on being slick but the wood and hops keep it in check.

Pours a clear yellow with a foamy bone head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, grain, and citrus zest aromas. Taste is much the same with citrus zest flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of woody bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer that is quite wood forward in the aroma and flavor. (546 characters)

Bomber, poured a light copper with white head. Foam was soapy and slick, along with the lacing. Filmy.

Aroma is birch and booze. Some sweetness. While these aren't all that bad, they don't do well

The first sip surprised me. Very light body as it enters and leaves. The birch and sweetness take over, some vanilla, which is promptly murdered by the booze. Probably a good thing else that vanilla combined with the residual sugars would have been too much. But this beer has nothing else going for it. Birch, booze, sweet. Thin with a bit of a saving dryness on the end.

Pours a thick viscous copper body with light beige head forming thin even after a vigorous pour, there's not much head wanting to erupt here. Fine speckled lacing not the worst looking beer ever. Bottled on 5/14/13, warming birch syrup it's almost like a woody honey or other concentrated sugar, minimal hops going on in the nose. Flavor warming alcohol big unfermented sugary body it's so rough it's unreal this needs another fermentation why release this keep this forever it will ferment forever if it was bottled conditioned sickeningly sweet beer, big alcohol wave hints of vanilla and charred oak with minimal aging this is young folks too fresh if you have a bottle don't drink it. If you have a bottle and your a diabetic get your local EMT ready to pick you up and take you to the ER. Overall it needs time, I won't be as mean as some reviews but this is the most sickeningly sweet beer I've ever tasted Birch syrupy should be barred from microbreweries. (963 characters)

22oz bottle $8 (or was it $9)? Golden orange color, good head, looks ok. Aroma is musty and stale and really not good at all. The flavor was just downright awful, that birch syrup and birch wood were the main flavors competing with a really nasty alcohol flavor. I took about two drinks and drain poured this. Easily the worst Great Divide beer I've ever had by a long shot, they usually make solid stuff for the most part. Atrocious beer. (439 characters)

Pours a light translucent golden yellow with a slight white head. Aroma offers the barrel, some nice sweet birch syrup, and a touch of some hoppiness. Some alcohol is present. Flavor offers the woodl, some sweetness from the birch syrup, and a piney bitter finish. Again some alcohol is present. A medium bodied to fuller still mouthfeel. Overall, the use of birch syrup and wood was definitely quite interesting and I am glad to have tried it, but this was more of an interesting beer than a good one. (502 characters)

Pours a clear slightly orange golden color with a tight white head that leaves chunks of lacing.

Smells of touches of wood with some syrupy sweet notes.

Tastes of the light wood notes with some toasted malt notes underneath along with some slight grassy hops. The birch notes lead off with some birch beer notes. Touches of sugary sweetness along with some wood. Toasted malt notes come through and add to some of the birch beer notes, but don't make it too sweet. Grassy hops come through next. Finishes with the wood notes.

Had on-tap at The Local Miami. Served in a Florida Beer Co. tapered glass.

A- Pours a clean medium amber color with a 1/4 inch off-white head that retains well before becoming a thick ring around the edge of the glass and a mostly full sheet of surface foam. Slippery, non-resilient lacing leaves clots behind on the glass.

S- Very sweet, almost candyish type of aroma with some vanilla notes.

T- Initial sweetness soon turns a bit woody then right back to sweet in the aftertaste. Smooth but with a bit of alcohol fume trailing behind it. The sweetness is semi-fruity but in a red cherry/caramel/burnt sugar context. Ok, I got it: rum. Tastes like a very sweet rum. Still, the alcohol is concealed quite well even as it warms.

M- Moderate booze bite with a slightly syrupy feel. Medium carbonation and a body that's just a tad light.

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a Great Divide Brewing Company branded snifter

Pours a deep golden with amber accents capped with a one and half finger fluffy bright white head that dissipates fairly quickly; splotchy lacing here and there. Fresh cut wood, grass, honey, and pear on the nose. Lightly sweet syrup, honey, and herbal/grassy notes with some breadiness midpalate. Finishes with fresh cut wood and accents of clean alcohol. Full bodied, syrupy and smooth; mild, gentle carbonation. This is truly an unique brew and a very enjoyable one at that. Highly recommended. (578 characters)

Taste, faint citrus zest, quickly turns to a woody sweet. Malty caramel, some toasted malt notes. Some bitters and booze battle the sweet in the finish. The toffee stays with you though.

Quite coating, a good level of carbonation helps to keep the stickiness in check just a bit. A little warming, might be a better cooler weather beer. Would be interesting to see what some age does with this. It's perfectly fine now however.

Probably the closest thing I've tasted to some of Founders non-stout barrel aged beers. Rougher around the edges but very nice. (730 characters)

O: excellent use of birch, lending both sweet and dry moments; similar to a DIPA, but much lighter in feel and with great balance between the malt and hop character.Something of a hybrid between an English and American strong ale (think: Oaked Arrogant Bastard meets Fuller's 1845). An exceptional brew. (776 characters)

Great Divide's 19th is a slightly hazy copper color with thin white head. It settles fairly quickly and leaes some spotty lace.

Aroma is sweet and hoppy with a distinct wood-aged character. That vanilla and caramel come through here.

Flavor is really intense and truly unique. They make a similar beer every year for their anniversary but it always seems to be a little different. It's basically a hugely bitter double IPA that has been aged on wood and, in this case, with birch syrup added. There's a earthy woodsy taste but I'm not sure about aging IPAs. Maybe a barley wine would be better suited.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and nicely carbonated. Very bitter but somewhat balanced with some subtle sweetness.

Overall a very good wood aged ale but maybe they could change things up for the big 20 next year. (870 characters)

This brew is ment to mellow and age for sometime. I'll snag a few for the cellar. Kinda recommended, if you're into over the top, harsh brews. A bit of a mess, but I could see this brew doing great things with a bit of time (2-3 years) ... (572 characters)

as far as I know the first deviation from the ipa anniversary beer line, but its a welcomed change. as much as I liked the 18th, I like this one too. it pours a honey color with maybe three inches of white head and good retention. its go a birchy nose indeed, much like the syrup in the life and limb or in that Alaskan pilot series bock I think it was, this has that same earthy sweet aroma, but the malt base is light enough to let it shine. really nice. the flavor is on the sweet side, which would be a detractor, except for that the sweetness is not malt sweetness or residual sugar in the conventional sense. its entirely different sweet, fro the birch, and its really nice in a lighter ale. the alcohol is there in the finish, but its not too intense. also the birch chips its aged on seem to only make a minimal contribution to flavor, giving some mellowness to the whole operation, but not potent like oak can be. the body is a little heavier than id like to it be, although not so much that a bomber of this isnt drinkable in one dose, because it surely is. the carbonation is very lively, which helps a lot, and allows the sweetness not to linger too long on the finish. this probably lacks complexity compared to the wood aged ipas that have been the hallmark of great divides anniversary series, but I appreciate the new direction. this is something very new, and easily worth the 8 or so dollars I paid for it. (1,424 characters)